Tim Wellens thread

[GenericBoonenFan]

Re:

Would Wellens be able to do well in Flanders or is it too flat for him?

He has the engine. He's belgian and given some training I don't see why not.

 

[SafeBet]

He's a legend.
I say we sign a petition to make him race in every Classic of the season and then we all start rain dancing.

 

[Red Rick]

I think the Wellends gets wrecked on the Kwaremont

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

Re:

I think the Wellends gets wrecked on the Kwaremont

He has a history in Mountainbiking. That terrain suits anyone with that kind of experience.

 

[Echoes]

Re: Re:

I think the Wellends gets wrecked on the Kwaremont

He has a history in Mountainbiking. That terrain suits anyone with that kind of experience.

Yup a year and a half ago he was still among the contenders at the Roc d'Azur! Last year he raced it out of form but still showed up.

A good indication of what he can do on small hills is the last edition of the Jef Scherens GP in Leuven. While already not in his best form in late 2016 he was very active in the lead group on the hill. Eventually no results for him because it was a bunch sprint but still he was one of the most active under way.

Tim is a Limburger of Sint-Truiden and Sint-Truiden is very close to Liège (and his mother is Walloon, I think). The Ardennes climbs were those he's been training on since being an early teen and he's always loved them. That doesn't mean he would always ignore other races. The fact he's decided to change his calendar this year, racing Strade Bianche, Tirreno & Milan-Sanremo (instead of the usual Paris-NIce + Basque Country) is testament of that. He could very well show up in Flanders in the years to come. My dream would of course be to see him on Paris-Roubaix. Not for the win obviously but just to see him finish it (in itself, it's already a victory).

 

[Echoes]

Anyone has read the Tim Wellens book: "De weg naar de wielerdroom, het boek voor wie prof wil worden" (Kanibaal) written with coach Paul Van den Bosch (formerly Nys' coach) and Wim Van Hoolst. I saw it at my book shop but it's 22.5€. I can afford it but it's not that cheap. It's partly a biography of how Tim evolved into a pro rider and partly a few tips about training if I remember correctly. Is it worth buying?

I'm addressing speakers of Dutch, of course.

 

[RedheadDane]

I'm addressing speakers of Dutch, of course.

Thanks for clarifying. Gotta admit, I haven't.

 

[SafeBet]

They should translate to italian.

 

[El Pistolero]

So why did he wait for the Mur de Huy? He said last year he regretted attacking before the Mur de Huy... but why? If he had gone with Jungels one of them could have won. Now he did nothing. Spineless ride. Looks like another winless year for him in the Ardennes classics. Maybe classics aren't his thing (yet). He should try the Flemish classics. You can still ride LBL if you skip Roubaix.

 

[Flamin]

Because he tried it the last 2 years and nobody dared to go with him, so of course he says **** it now. Perfectly understandable.

It's very hard to win an Ardennes classic. No shame if he never does. Don't think he has the engine for it anyway.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

Because he tried it the last 2 years and nobody dared to go with him, so of course he says **** it now. Perfectly understandable.

It's very hard to win an Ardennes classic. No shame if he never does. Don't think he has the engine for it anyway.

So he decides not to go when a strong rider goes? No, that's not understandable. Hasn't he learned anything from Gilbert and Van Avermaet this year?

 

[Red Rick]

I'm pretty sure Wellens is suited to the Ardenns, but not suited to how they finish.

 

[Flamin]

Re: Re:

Because he tried it the last 2 years and nobody dared to go with him, so of course he says **** it now. Perfectly understandable.

It's very hard to win an Ardennes classic. No shame if he never does. Don't think he has the engine for it anyway.

So he decides not to go when a strong rider goes? No, that's not understandable. Hasn't he learned anything from Gilbert and Van Avermaet this year?

One guy... How sad is that? Other teams' mentality need to change first, not Wellens'.

 

[Netserk]

I think it makes sense to have a year where you wait for the Mur just to measure where you stand. I would have preferred if he had gone with Jungels, and it would have been smart to do so, but now he at least knows for certain that he'll never ever get a top-5 or whatever in a sprint up the last ascent.

 

[Gigs_98]

I also think he made a tactical mistake today, but criticizing him is a bit harsh. This guy is attacking in basically all one day races he enters so he really doesn't have to learn anything from Gilbert and GVA. Besides I still think he can win Ardennes races. He won Montreal two years ago as well as two Eneco Tours. The competition in the Ardennes classics is maybe a bit better but still I think this is prove enough that he at least has the potential.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

I think it makes sense to have a year where you wait for the Mur just to measure where you stand. I would have preferred if he had gone with Jungels, and it would have been smart to do so, but now he at least knows for certain that he'll never ever get a top-5 or whatever in a sprint up the last ascent.

Exactly. Can't blame him at all.

 

[Samamba]

Re:

I think it makes sense to have a year where you wait for the Mur just to measure where you stand. I would have preferred if he had gone with Jungels, and it would have been smart to do so, but now he at least knows for certain that he'll never ever get a top-5 or whatever in a sprint up the last ascent.

This! He needed to know what his capabilities were on the Mur. He won't wait next year, that's for sure.

 

[El Pistolero]

He couldn't even beat Van Avermaet on the uphill finish in Strade Bianche, why on earth would he think he can win FW by waiting for the final ascent of the Mur de Huy?

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

He couldn't even beat Van Avermaet on the uphill finish in Strade Bianche, why on earth would he think he can win FW by waiting for the final ascent of the Mur de Huy?

He didn't and if he did, he is deluded, but I think he needed to know how far he was from Valverde (and the rest) and judging what would be the best approach going forward as his attacks haven't payed off either. That experiment clearly didn't go well so he will be back to attacking now.

 

[Netserk]

Yawn, strawman. No one has stated that "he thinks he can win FW by waiting for the final ascent of the Mur de Huy"

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

He couldn't even beat Van Avermaet on the uphill finish in Strade Bianche, why on earth would he think he can win FW by waiting for the final ascent of the Mur de Huy?

Yeah because Valverde would easily beat GVA if they would come to the final ramp of strade bianche together...

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

He couldn't even beat Van Avermaet on the uphill finish in Strade Bianche, why on earth would he think he can win FW by waiting for the final ascent of the Mur de Huy?

Yeah because Valverde would easily beat GVA if they would come to the final ramp of strade bianche together...

Valverde also couldn't beat him on a semi-mountainous course in the biggest one-day race there is,so that shouldn't surprise you. Greg is one of the last true classics specialists, together with Gilbert.

His palmares is evidence of that:

- Olympic Road Race (around 4000 meters of elevation gain)
- Paris-Roubaix (almost entirely flat and with nasty sections of pavé)
- Gent-Wevelgem (final hill at 34 km from the finish-line)
- E3 Harelbeke (a mini-Ronde van Vlaanderen)
- Omloop het Nieuwsblad (2x)
- Paris-Tours (often called the sprinter's classic)
- GP de Montréal (around 3893 meters of elevation gain)
- Tirreno-Adriatico
- Two Tour stages (one from a break and the other from an uphill sprint)
- One stage in the Vuelta (defeating Rebellin) and the points jersey
- Tour of Belgium (he won it in the Ardennes stage)

He has also been on the podium three times in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, twice in the Strade Bianche and he was once seventh in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He can't win La Flèche Wallonne in its current state though.

 

[Squire]

Why does every thread turn into a Gilbert or GVA thread nowadays?

Was hoping to see Wellens attack again yesterday. Jungels could've needed some company.

 

[yaco]

It's more likely, Wellens isn't good enough to win these type of races.

 

[Jagartrott]

He had said before the race that he would wait this year, seeing how all his attempts in the previous (3?) editions were in vain. At least he now knows that waiting is also no option. An attack together with Jungels would've carried them both further, I'd think.